Chapter Eight

Adam pulled in alongside the wagon and pointed a little farther up the road. “There’s a spot up there we can make camp for the night. Plenty of room for the wagon and feed for the horses to graze.”

“There’s still daylight left! We need to keep going.” Joe glared at his brother while pointing towards where the sun was dropping in the sky. “At least another hour, Adam.”

Knowing this fight was coming, Adam had already anticipated his arguments. Joe was clearly wilting in the seat and anybody with eyes could see he needed to stop and rest.

“We need to rest, Joe. All of us!” He held up a hand as if to ward off the inevitable objection, but it didn’t work.

“We need to get home as quickly as possible! Pa … and Hoss. Don’t let them …” Joe’s breathing had quickened as he continued and suddenly he ran out of breath.

Adam had already dismounted from his horse in the small clearing he’d selected and he braced himself for the stubbornness of his youngest brother. As Stacey pulled the wagon in behind him, he could see Joe winding up to continue arguing with him. As if the intensity of his emotions combined with his fatigue to suddenly overwhelm him, Joe fell forward on the bench seat and clutched at his head. A groan of pain escaped through gritted teeth and Adam scrambled up beside him in an instant.

“Easy there. Slow breaths, remember?”

Harry had appeared from behind him and between the two of them they lifted Joe down onto the ground before he fell out of the wagon. His legs crumpled beneath him and Adam easily caught his weight as he fell. Joe was barely aware of his surroundings until he felt his body connect with solid ground and he closed his eyes against the blinding flashes of light that threatened to rip his head in two.

Stacey had already found a canteen of water and she pulled a cloth from the back of the wagon and dribbled water onto it. Adam still had a hand under Joe’s head and he nodded as she began to wipe the sweat from his brother’s face. Joe groaned again and tried to force his eyes open.

“You win,” he whispered at his brother’s hazy image.

“I’d rather lose this one, Joe.” Adam tried to smile at his brother’s attempted joke and almost grinned as Joe laughed softly at him.

“Can I have that in writing?”

“Sure.”

As Adam kept his brother resting where he had been laid down, Stacey and Harry began to pull supplies from the wagon and prepare supper. It would be almost another hour before Joe pulled himself upright and forced himself to pick at the plate that Adam brought him. His head still ached, but the blinding bolts of lightning had retreated and his stomach managed to keep hold of the stew he’d eaten. He was barely aware as Adam pulled a bedroll behind him and nudged him backwards.

“Get some sleep. You’ll feel better in the morning.”

When Joe didn’t answer, Adam leaned down to check on him. The exhausted lines on his face softened as Joe’s body quickly relaxed into sleep and Adam pulled the blanket over him.

“I’m sorry, Joe. We shouldn’t have left yet.” The comment was meant only for himself, but Stacey crouched down beside him and shook her head.

“Like he gave you any kind of choice.”

Adam watched as she checked over his brother and he couldn’t contain a smile as he saw the tenderness in her hands. He’d always said that Joe could charm the boots off anybody, and it seemed that he had yet another admirer of the female variety.

“I suppose not.” Suddenly the smile slid away as he reflected on the last few hours. “How often does he get sick like that?”

Stacey leaned back on her heels and chewed on her lip. It bothered her that even though Joe was healing in other ways, there was still something clearly wrong with him. “At first, it was almost every day after he woke up. Once he was well enough to get up and move around, it eased a bit. Now it’s mostly just if he gets worked up trying to remember something or he’s pushing himself too hard.”

“That doesn’t really explain what happened earlier.”

“He was getting worked up … just for a different reason.”

Adam felt a gentle hand on his arm and he looked up to see Stacey watching him. He knew he’d caused Joe’s distress and he shook his head in frustration.

“I think we all need some sleep,” was the best he could manage as he pulled his own bedroll towards him. Stacey took the abrupt dismissal for what it was and stood up to head towards the fire where Harry had already laid out her own bedding.

“Sleep well.”

Adam pulled the blanket up towards his chest as he rolled onto his side. Joe was less than a foot away from him and he stared at his brother’s profile in the flickering light from the fire. Long after the fire had burned down to little more than coals, he continued to stand watch, as if something was going to come in the dark and take Joe away. He tried to push the irrational fear aside, but could not make himself succumb to sleep.

---

As the miles rolled by too slowly, Glen once again found himself second-guessing his decisions. He’d been tempted to swap horses before leaving the ranch, but he’d ridden out on his father’s old horse instead of the newer one he’d been breaking with Hoss. He knew the black mare could cover more ground in less time, but he wasn’t convinced the new horse was settled enough for him to risk taking her. He’d barely gotten her saddlebroke and didn’t think he could manage her if she played up on him. It could prove costly if he couldn’t rein her in and keep her on track so in the end he’d left on old Betsy. He found himself once again thinking of how Joe had considered her a good horse in spite of her age and he smiled to himself.

I wonder what he’ll say when he sees us?

Will he believe me?

Anxious thoughts swirled around in his head as he recalled the tempestuous young man who had stormed off the ranch so many weeks ago. At times, he found it difficult to reconcile the fact that Joe was Hoss’s brother as they seemed to be cut from such different cloth. Then again, Adam was another breed entirely. As Glen pushed on through the darkness and prayed he was on the right road, he found himself tossing around various thoughts about the family he had come to work for. The nagging doubt that he had just thrown away his future with them was squashed down and he tried to ignore it.

The moon was beginning to dip towards the horizon and he struggled to keep his eyes open and focused on the road ahead. He had debated stopping for a few hours of sleep, but knew he needed to push on. Betsy might be a good horse, but he knew only too well that a faster, younger one could overtake him if one happened to be chasing him down. He shivered involuntarily as he thought again of waking up with Nate leaning over his bunk and he rubbed at his arms as he rode along. The man’s eyes betrayed his less than stable state of mind and the glint of a knife had been far too close for comfort.

As the first rays of sunlight streaked across the sky, he pulled a wrapped package out of his saddlebag and began to gnaw on a piece of beef jerky. The toughened meat caught in his throat and he wished he had had more time to gather supplies, but there was no way to do so without arousing suspicions. He took a long swig from his canteen and turned his face towards the rising sun. There was always something comforting about the early morning and he smiled a little as he pushed his horse onwards.

---

Adam pushed himself up onto one elbow and tried to rub the grit from his eyes. The faintest hint of morning made everything look washed out and he wondered if he had dreamed the noise that awoke him. As he tried to drop back to sleep, he heard the noise again. In a heartbeat, he was out of his tangled bedroll and reaching for his brother’s arm. Joe fought off his touch and muttered something under his breath. Adam leaned back and watched as Joe wrestled against something in his sleep. His brother’s features contorted as he muttered again and Adam debated waking him up. Before he could decide what to do, Joe pushed upright and ripped at the blanket that entangled him. His breath was coming in frantic bursts and sweat slicked his hair to his scalp. As Adam tried to reach him, he wrenched the blanket free and barely contained a strangled cry.

“Joe.” Adam held out a hand as his brother looked like a rabbit staring down a coyote. “Easy, Joe.”

Joe stared at him as if he were some kind of mirage that could melt away if he looked away.

“He was here.”

“There’s nobody here, Joe. Just us.”

Joe sucked in his bottom lip and tried to control his breathing. Adam was only an arms length away and he ached to reach out and grab hold of his brother’s arm. Instead, he forced himself to focus and push the fear aside.

“He didn’t shoot me.”

Adam mistook the comment for Joe recognising he’d been dreaming and he nodded. “It was just a nightmare. There was nobody here, Joe.”

He frowned as Joe began to shake his head. “No! He didn’t shoot me. He … he had a knife.”

Adam leaned forward as the colour drained out of his brother’s face and he reached out to grab hold of him before he fell. Joe sagged against him and Adam could feel his heart racing as he pulled his brother closer.

“Who had a knife?” He already had a fair idea, but needed Joe to confirm it for him. What came out was not quite what he was expecting.

“He enjoyed it. It wasn’t just to force a point. He … Adam’s there’s something really wrong with Nate.”

“What are you talking about, Joe?”

Joe flinched as he tried to explain. “My shoulder. He didn’t shoot me.” The newly recovered memory of Nate kneeling on top of his pinned arms and laughing like some kind of demented coyote as he gouged the knife into his shoulder and twisted it almost had Joe crawling backwards again. Adam tightened his grip around him and waited for further explanation. When it didn’t come, he tried again.

“Joe, are you telling me that hole in your shoulder was a knife wound?”

When Joe simply nodded at him, he could feel his anger rising.

“He enjoyed it.” The sickening thought didn’t get any further as Stacey appeared beside them. Adam wasn’t sure how much she had heard, but he had no plan to repeat Joe’s revelation to her.

“We have to get moving, Adam! Pa and Hoss. We can’t … we have to …”

“It’s alright, Joe. We’ll be moving as soon as we can. Trail tack will do and we’ll be home before dark. I promise.”

Joe nodded and tugged at the blanket that still wrapped itself around his legs. He pulled on his hat and checked his gun while Adam explained to Stacey and Harry why there was no time for coffee and bacon. He nudged dirt over the fire and turned back to hustle supplies back onto the wagon. Joe forced down the sense of panic that tried to claw its way up his chest and he focused on hurrying out of camp instead. He would not give voice to the fear that gripped him and he tried desperately to force aside the image of Nate’s face laughing at him as he screamed. For the briefest of moments he had thought it was just a nightmare, but each moment since he had awoken had driven it deeper that it was no fleeting dream. Nate had deliberately tortured him and enjoyed it. When Adam came up unexpectedly behind him, he almost took a swing at his brother. He pulled the punch at the last moment and looked chagrined at what he had almost done.

“Sorry. Didn’t hear you.”

“It’s okay. Let’s get out of here.” Joe allowed his brother to give him a helping hand to climb aboard the wagon and that, more than anything, showed Adam just how fragile his brother still was. Normally Joe would have blustered and argued, but his silent compliance was very telling. Adam pulled himself into the saddle and swung out towards the road again.

It would be almost two hours before a dust cloud ahead of them declared someone was coming their way. Adam had his rifle resting across his saddle horn as he rode onwards and he nodded as he noted that Harry had done the same. Joe had his revolver in his hand and all three of them felt the tension in the air as they rode on. Whoever it was would not come upon them unawares.

As Glen climbed to the top of the small ridge, he could make out a traveling group in the distance. A wagon and two horses were moving at speed towards him and he felt a lump of doubt form in his throat. He was alone and seriously outgunned if anything went wrong. He pulled his hat down and urged his horse forward and prayed that the strangers approaching him were not looking for any trouble. It would be another ten minutes before he drew close enough to make out any of them and even then, he wasn’t sure it wasn’t exhaustion making him see things. He pushed his horse forward, knowing she was tired and could not contain a grin as he heard Adam’s shout of greeting. The stranger off to the right of the wagon still had a rifle pointed his way and he pulled up and waited. Adam waved the man down and when he was sure it was safe to approach, Glen stopped alongside him. He nodded towards Joe in the front of the wagon and almost laughed with relief.

“Well I’m glad the rumour ain’t true.”

“What rumour?”

“The one I heard about your brother’s untimely death.”

“Let me guess … Nate told you that?” Joe snarled the name as he looked towards the two men in front of him. He could feel Stacey’s calming hand on his arm, but it wasn’t working.

“Well, not in so many words, but he did imply that if I tried to get in his way, I’d wear the blame for it.” The quiet anger in the words carried across to all of them and Joe frowned at him.

“Why would he be after you? His plan was to destroy me and my family by driving us apart.”

Adam stared at his brother as it was the first inkling Joe had given of why things had gone so awry.

“No idea, but I’m sure glad to see you are alright, Joe. I really wasn’t sure what I was gonna find in Silver Falls.”

“Where is Nate now? And Mac!”

“Well they’re still at the Ponderosa, but your pa should know about them by now.”

“Should?” Adam shifted in the saddle and glanced over to where Harry was sitting astride his own horse. “We sent Roy Coffee a wire. He was supposed to warn Pa and Hoss days ago.”

“I don’t know anything about that. The sheriff and me talked about them and he said he wouldn’t say nothing to your pa until he was sure. Didn’t want to cause him any more grief until he was sure that …” Glen swallowed hard and stared at the young man in front of him who was very much alive. “Til he was sure that Joe really was dead and I didn’t imagine it. I left your pa and Hoss a letter to warn them. They will have caught up with the sheriff by now, I know it!”

“How did you get mixed up in everything? Why’d you think I was dead?” Joe couldn’t help the suspicion that crawled up his spine, knowing there were still gaps in his memories. Had Glen really ridden after him to warn him or had he simply come to finish what others had started? He stared back at the young hand who had befriended his guileless brother and prayed that Hoss hadn’t been duped.

“It’s a bit of a saga. Do you mind if I give ol’ Betsy a rest while I fill you in? She’s been on the road since yesterday so’s I could get to you as fast as possible.”

Joe took his first look at the old mare and frowned to see she was looking like she could soon pull up lame. He nodded as Glen slipped down from his horse and watched as he led her over to a patch of grass and reached for his canteen. He took a swig himself and then poured the rest into his upturned hat. Joe almost smiled as he’d done the same for Cochise many times. Of course Cooch preferred coffee, but he was rationed to no more than a mugful at a time. The familiar memory dredged up an unexpected ache in his chest.

“Is Cochise alright?” The sudden change of conversation wasn’t really surprising to Adam, but Glen smiled enthusiastically.

“All fine! That leg healed right up once Hoss got to work on it.”

Joe pulled a tight-lipped smile and nodded in relief. He had feared that his negligence could have cost his horse’s life and he climbed down from the wagon to inspect Glen’s horse. Stacey decided that they weren’t going anywhere any time soon and suggested that Harry start a fire to brew them the coffee they had missed out on earlier. He was off looking for kindling and she was reaching into the back of the wagon, searching for the coffee pot when a hand clamped down over her mouth. She tried to scream and felt another hand snake around her waist and pull her backwards.